No reported incidents with hands-free usage

Friday

Jan 10, 2014 at 10:33 AM

Cynthia Grau

Illinois recently joined the ranks of states that have gone “hands-free” regarding cell phone use while drivingThe law, which went into effect Jan. 1, makes it illegal to make cell phone calls while driving. This is in addition to previous laws on the books in Illinois that made texting or surfing the Internet while operating a vehicle, all phone usage for novice drivers and phone usage in school or construction zones illegal.Local law enforcement said they are in favor of the move, but because of the severe winter weather-related issues hitting the area since the beginning of the year, the new law hasn’t been addressed as much as they’d like.“I haven’t heard any feedback from the deputies,” said Livingston County Chief Deputy Tony Childress. “Most motorists can still chat and drive, but only if they’re using hands free technology, such as a Bluetooth device, earpiece, headset or speakerphone. Otherwise, they’ll have to put the car in park and talk while in park or face fines that start at $75 a pop.”Pontiac Police Major Dan Davis echoed his sentiments.“It is something we will definitely be keeping an eye on. I haven’t seen any citations on those yet,” Davis agreed.The two agree that going hands-free is a good turn for the state, as distracted driving is the culprit for many accidents.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted driving in 2012. The NHTSA also says, on average, a driver’s eyes are away from the road for almost five seconds when sending or receiving a text message – the equivalent of driving the length of a football field at 55 mph blindfolded.“I feel that it definitely will limit driver distraction and provide some uniformity to the rules of the road as it relates to not using handheld devices,” Childress said, citing the fact that Cook County and other surrounding counties had their own hands-free laws and now that it is statewide, it’s less confusing for drivers.Both Childress and Davis believe that talking on cell phones hands-free while driving will lessen the amount of traffic accidents in the future, taking out some of the many distractions people encounter while driving.“Everybody over the age of ten seems to have a cell phone on them at all times and I’m sure other cities and counties saw the same kind of stats as far as everyone talking on cell phones that we did and acknowledged that it is a primary issue for distracted driving,” Davis said.Childress explained that driving without a hands free device with be a primary offense, meaning the police can pull a person over and ticket them if they see a motorist with a phone pressed to their ear. The same standards apply to the text messaging while driving. A lot of law enforcement officials believe the new cell phone rules will make it easier to catch violators who are doing things that could turn out to be unsafe and cause accidents. “That’s our main focus,” Childress said. “To keep the public safe - as safe as we can and try to avoid accidents and people getting hurt.”The general public seems to be taking this new law very seriously, as many stores in the area that carry the devices have seen foot traffic increase tremendously since word of the new law spread.Stephanie Vargas, manager at Big Boyz Toyz in Pontiac, and Jenni Leenders, manager at Cellular Connection, both located in Pontiac, said that their stores have even held special sales after the advent of this new law. Some of the items available at the stores include Bluetooth headsets, earpieces and even speakerphone attachments for the inside of the car.“I think they should have done this a long time ago because nobody should be talking or texting while they’re driving,” Vargas said. She also said that, when choosing what works best for each individual, the speaker phone option seems to be popular, because it can easily be clipped to the sun visor of the car and people don’t have to worry about wearing a headset or putting a device in their ear.“(The amount of customers coming in for new equipment) has been huge. I’m not sure if it’s doubled or tripled, but it’s gone from almost none to a huge amount of people,” Leenders added. “We only sold a couple in a month usually, and we have a huge list of back items that we have to fill. I just talked to the distributor and they are backordered. It’s just huge.”Leenders also said she felt it is important that officers enforce this law and asks customers to be patient for the new stock of supplies to come in.“I think it’s something people probably knew they needed to do and didn’t, and now that they have to, they’re trying to be compliant,” Leenders said.Childress explained that drivers can make calls legally in an emergency or when stopped in a traffic jam when the car is in park or neutral. He also said police and emergency personnel are exempt from the ban while performing official duties.“There are also separate measures that increase penalties to those who injure or kill people in crashes caused by someone using an electronic device,” Childress said.

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